Offseason Baseball Roster Transition - 6/29 - Matt Beck to wear #8

As we have already seen, the roster is starting to turn over for 2021. We know that this will be an unusual year because of the increased pool of players due to the relief granted by the NCAA and the potential shortening of the MLB draft.

Seniors can come back without counting against the 35 man roster limit. This applies to Matthew Beck and Aaron George. There has been no indication that they plan to move on from LSU. Because they will not count toward the 35 man limit, any numbers I use going forward to represent our status relative to the 35 man limit will only pertain to Juniors and below.

The MLB draft can be shortened to as few as 5 rounds. There has not been a final determination on how many rounds it will go. The bonus slots for the first 10 rounds will match the 2019 draft, but bonuses can be deferred for 3 years ($100k this year, 50% of the remainder split over each of the next 2 is my understanding). While this will help the teams financially, it may make some decisions a little more difficult for the potential picks. Do I take a prorated amount now or take my chances in college and get it all at one time three years from now?

When I list reasonable draft risks, they will be based only on ranking from Fan Graphs, MLB.com, Baseball America ($), and ESPN ($). They will not include any signability information, because that's just not available right now.

The transfer portal is hopping. We have 5 players in the portal or already transferring currently. There are over 450 players in the portal nationally. We are recruiting at least one of those players. D1 Baseball Transfer Tracker ($)

We start the offseason at 53/35 (again, excluding Beck and George).

Tranfer Portal:
Drew Bianco - Decision not final, may stay ( Per Mainieri in Advocate) - Staying at LSU as of 5/18
Tommy Biggs - Transferring to Co-Lin CC.
Chase Costello - Transferring to Stetson
Hal Hughes - Transferring to Rice
Eric Walker - Transferring to Oklahoma State
Rye Gunter - The Advocate
CJ Willis - Transferring to ULL
Michael Lagarrigue
Wes Toups - Transferring to Nicholls St

I'm counting everyone in the portal as taken off the roster, so that puts us at a current standing of 48/35.

4/28/2020 - Rye Gunter putting his name in the portal moves the roster to 47/35.
5/18/2020 - CJ Willis enters portal. Roster at 46/35.
5/18/2020 - Drew Bianco withdraws name from transfer portal to put the roster back at 47/35.
6/2/2020 - Dylan Crews opts out of draft to attend LSU: Baseball Prospect Journal
6/8/2020 - Eric Walker announces transfer to Oklahoma State, no change in roster numbers as his exit was already accounted for.
6/9/2020 - Chase Costello announces transfer to Stetson. No change in roster numbers as his exit was already accounted for.
6/10/2020 - Michael Lagarrigue enters transfer portal. Roster now at 46/35.
6/12/2020 - Draft complete, 4 players taken and expected to sign. Roster at 42 of an expected 40.
6/15/2020 - Saul Garza and Zach Mathis sign UDFA deals. Roster now stands at 40.
6/15/2020 - Wes Toups in transfer portal. Roster at 39 players.
6/17/2020 - CJ Willis announces ULL as destination
6/22/2020 - Tommy Biggs announces transfer destination is Co-Lin CC in Mississippi.
6/24/2020 - Wes Toups announces his destination is Nicholls St.

Recent news from Nolan Cain indicates there will be no 35 man limit for next season, I will continue to track in reference to the 35 man limit until an official announcement is made.

Drafted:
Pick 35 (Rockies) - Drew Romo
Pick 55 (Nationals) - Cole Henry
Pick 62 (Tigers) - Daniel Cabrera
Pick 129 (Yankees) - Beck Way

I will list the players in order of current players and their 2020 eligibility, then incoming players. I will put draft notations next to the names of the reasonable draft casualties. The notation will be what round the draft would have to go to in order for them to be a risk to go pro. To reiterate, this notation is irrespective of signability. (Sidenote: any 11+ are my own speculation not related to draft lists, the longest list is 400 players, which is just over 10 rounds of players)

Seniors:
Mathew Beck
Aaron George

Juniors:
Makhail Hilliard
Braden Doughty
Trent Vietmeier
Devin Fontenot - Draft 10 - FG118
Brandon Kaminer

Redshirt Sophomores:
Nick Storz - Draft 11+
AJ Labas - Draft 11+

Sophomores:
Landon Marceaux
Jaden Hill
Giovanni DiGiacomo
Gavin Dugas
Cade Beloso
Drew Bianco

Freshmen:
Alex Milazzo
Hayden Travinski
Mitchell Sanford
Cade Doughty
Jacob Hasty
Collier Cranford
Zach Arnold
Maurice Hampton

JUCO Transfers:
Alex Brady ( Walk On)
Jacob Wyeth

Incoming Freshmen:
Will Safford
Brooks Rice
Gus Milligan
Zachary Murray - Draft 11+
Blake Money - Draft 10 - BA356
Javen Coleman
Jordan Thompson - Draft 10 - BA308
Garrett Edwards
Theo Millas - Draft 10 - FG150/BA397
Dylan Crews - Draft 5 - FG36/MLB68/BA54/ESPN27
Will Helmers
Ty Floyd - Draft 5 - FG221/MLB142/BA70
Tre Morgan - Draft 10 - BA398, Injured
Michael Fowler - Draft 11+
Brody Drost - Draft 10 - BA363

I will update this post as more news breaks. I will also update with links that supports the items already covered here, as time allows. I can also put summer assignments in here as the begin to roll in (there are some available, but who knows if the leagues will even play at this point).